DECsystem 5800 with 2 processors slower than with 1?

[Michel Fingerhut]

It is really weird, then.  The 5820 is *definitely* slower with 2 cpus.  For
instance, an "ls -l" of a local (i.e., non-NFS) directory containing 3 files
and one sub-directory, on a machine with 2 users, takes 4-5 seconds (would
you believe it).  With one cpu off, it's instantaneous (what would happen
with the second cpu off I wonder).

DEC told me that it was a KNOWN problem, that they had experienced it too.
So maybe it's a "feature" for Ultrix sent to non-US places?

Moreover, they added that the CPU(s) and the disks (RA90) required some patches
to the firmware which would not solve the problem, but which were required
under Ultrix 4.0.

Finally, one person at DEC told me that the 58n0 was not a success, being a
bastardized machine in between VAXen and MIPS, expensive and slow.  That person
added that while benchmarks on the 5000 and the 5400 had shown even better
results than predicted, it was definitely not the case on the 58n0.

I'd be very interested in any experience (positive or negative) people in
netland could report to me (and my direction).

Thanks in advance...!